This day in history

[September 02, 2010]  (AP)  Today is Thursday, Sept. 2, the 245th day of 2010. There are 120 days left in the year.

Today's highlight in history:

On Sept. 2, 1945, Japan formally surrendered in ceremonies aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay, ending World War II.

On this date:

In 1666, the Great Fire of London broke out.

In 1789, the United States Treasury Department was established.

In 1864, during the Civil War, Union Gen. William T. Sherman's forces occupied Atlanta.

In 1901, Vice President Theodore Roosevelt offered the advice, "Speak softly and carry a big stick" in a speech at the Minnesota State Fair.

In 1930, the first non-stop airplane flight from Europe to the U.S. was completed in 37 hours as Capt. Dieudonne Costes and Maurice Bellonte of France arrived in Valley Stream, N.Y., aboard their Breguet 19 biplane, which bore the symbol of a large question mark.

In 1935, a Labor Day hurricane slammed into the Florida Keys, claiming more than 400 lives.

In 1945, Ho Chi Minh declared Vietnam an independent republic. (Ho died on this date in 1969.)

In 1960, Wilma Rudolph of the United States won the first of her three gold medals at the Rome Summer Olympics as she finished the 100-meter dash in 11 seconds.

In 1969, in what some regard as the birth of the Internet, two connected computers at the University of California, Los Angeles, passed test data through a 15-foot cable. The first automatic teller machine (ATM) using magnetic-striped cards, called a "Docuteller," opened at a Chemical Bank branch in Rockville Centre, N.Y.

In 1998, a Swissair MD-11 jetliner crashed off Nova Scotia, killing all 229 people aboard.

Ten years ago: Hundreds of thousands of North Koreans welcomed home 63 former spies and guerrillas released by South Korea.

Five years ago: A National Guard convoy packed with food, water and medicine rolled into New Orleans four days after Hurricane Katrina. Scorched by criticism about sluggish federal help, President George W. Bush toured the Gulf Coast and met with state and local officials, including New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin. During a live TV benefit concert, rapper Kanye West went off-script to sharply criticize Bush, saying he "doesn't care about black people." The Labor Department reported the August unemployment rate was 4.9 percent, a four-year low. Machinists at Boeing Co. went on a nearly month-long strike. Actor Bob Denver, 70, died in Winston-Salem, N.C.

One year ago: Pfizer agreed to pay a record $2.3 billion settlement for illegal drug promotion. A Taliban suicide bomber attacked officials leaving a mosque in Afghanistan, killing the country's deputy intelligence chief and 23 others. Gunmen killed 17 people at a drug rehabilitation center in Ciudad Juarez (SEE'-yoo-dahd wahr-EHZ'), Mexico. A magnitude-7.0 earthquake rocked Indonesia, killing dozens of people.

Today's birthdays: Dancer-actress Marge Champion is 91. Jazz musician Horace Silver is 82. Former Sen. Alan K. Simpson (R-Wyo.) is 79. Former United States Olympic Committee Chairman Peter Ueberroth is 73. Rhythm-and-blues singer Sam Gooden (The Impressions) is 71. Singer Jimmy Clanton is 70. Rhythm-and-blues singer Rosalind Ashford (Martha & the Vandellas) is 67. Singer Joe Simon is 67. Football Hall of Famer Terry Bradshaw is 62. Basketball Hall of Famer Nate Archibald is 62. Actor Mark Harmon is 59. Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) is 59. Tennis Hall of Famer Jimmy Connors is 58. Actress Linda Purl is 55. Rock musician Jerry Augustyniak (10,000 Maniacs) is 52. Country musician Paul Deakin (The Mavericks) is 51. Football Hall of Famer Eric Dickerson is 50. Actor Keanu Reeves is 46. Former heavyweight boxing champion Lennox Lewis is 45. Actress Salma Hayek is 44. Actress Kristen Cloke is 42. Actress Cynthia Watros is 42. Rhythm-and-blues singer K-Ci is 41. Actor-comedian Katt Williams is 37. Actor Michael Lombardi is 36. Rock musician Sam Rivers (Limp Bizkit) is 33. Rock musician Spencer Smith (Panic at the Disco) is 23.

Thought for Today: "If I accept you as you are, I will make you worse; however, if I treat you as though you are what you are capable of becoming, I help you become that." -- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (GU'-tuh), German poet, dramatist and author (1749-1832)

[Associated Press]

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